We're All A Little Mad Here
by RosieIce
Summary: Jervis successfully put those "thoughts a brother should never have" into his sister's mind.
1. Prologue

Jervis successfully put those "thoughts a brother should never have" into his sister's mind.

The years went by and he convinced her to embrace her condition; to see it as the gift it is. She never saw a reason to fear her beloved brother. After all, he loved her and cherished her. He would take her to amusement parks if only to watch her smile all day long.

Alice adored Jervis' hypnosis trick. Those who bullied her would end up missing the next day, shop owners would let her leave with anything she desired for no charge, and throughout it all, she was never aware of being hypnotized herself.

Jervis loved his dear, sweet Alice. He loved the way her blood brought out the true sides of people. No one would dare harm her so long as he was nearby. That is, until they took a trip to Gotham and he lost her.

Everything changed that day.


	2. Look Into My Eyes

_Hugo Strange manages to clear Alice's mind of the years of manipulation and hypnosis. He succeeds to the point that Alice cannot remember most of what happened over the years. After she escapes, she cannot decide how she feels about her brother, what is right and wrong, and whether her condition is a gift or a curse. She wonders how much longer until Jervis finds her._

* * *

After yet another successful show, Jervis walked up to the house, confident in stride, and pulled out his phone. He hears a phone ring inside the mansion. The owner was too easy to hypnotize. The wife seems to have awoken.

"Honey?"

Thunder booms in the background as he waits for her to notice him.

"Wh-Who are you," she asks.

"Who am I? I haunt your dreams like a ghost, for I know what scares you most. So you run, run!" Like a scared little rabbit, she runs in fright. "As fast as you can! There's no escape from the magic man."

The husband slams what looks like a shovel right on her skull and works to dispose of the body.

Satisfied with the work and ordering the owner to kill himself, Jervis relaxes onto a surprisingly comfy chair. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the picture of his lost sister.

"My sweet sister. Alice. I've traveled so far. So come out, come out, wherever you are."

* * *

Meanwhile, in a dirt cheap apartment in the Narrows, Alice wraps her injured arm. The loud knocks at the door remind her that she's late on rent. Her landlord calls out her name repeatedly. The door opens as she closes her eyes in defeat.

"This time, no excuses. My money, where is it?"

"I'll get it for you."

"You said that last week, the week before that. I should have known you're a liar. A cheat!"

"I lost my job."

"Then get another! Don't cheat me!"

The landlord takes a closer look at Alice. She wonders what he is thinking about.

"But, uh, perhaps we work something out, eh? If you're a nice girl? Are you a nice girl?"

" _Alice, are you a nice girl?" Her brother's voice is so smooth and silky._

" _Yes, I am a nice girl." What she would do to be enveloped in his arms._

" _Alice, do you love your dear brother?" He is her world; without him she is alone._

" _Yes, I love you, Jervis." She pulls him into a hug._

" _Oh Alice, I love you too." Soft lips kiss her cheek._

"Stay away from me."

"Oh, be nice to me." The landlord grabs her arm.

"Stop, you don't understand."

He cackles as he continues to grab her. "Be nice."

She slaps him and that only goads him into forcing a kiss on her. She manages to push him off her, but there's a weird look on his face. Like he doesn't feel right. Alice touches her lips in fearful realization.

"I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have done that. You brought this on yourself."

She pushes him into a closet as he gurgles in pain.

* * *

There is a knock at Gordon's door. He opens it to reveal Jervis Tetch.

"Good day, Mr. Gordon….tea?"

"How'd you find me?"

"Oh, you're famous, sir. Your name's in the papers. The fearless bounty hunter," Tetch says this they both sit down.

Now, down to business. "I want you to find my sister. We're very close. We lost our parents at an early age. I became her guardian. But her condition proved too much for me. I sought help. The worst kind. The fiend, Professor Strange."

"Her condition?"

"Some poison in her blood. Very rare. Unique, in fact. He took her in. Said she needed constant supervision. He wouldn't let me see her."

"You go to the police?"

"Useless. This is Gotham after all. The years passed and I lost hope. But then I heard about the breakout. I assumed she escaped with others. But now she is out there. Alone. Afraid."

"Indian Hill escapees get five grand from the GCPD. You able to top that?"

"I'll double it."

"I'll see what I can do." Both men stand up as Gordon accepts the payment.

"Thank you very much." There is a pause as Jervis hands over a picture of Alice.

"Leave your number."

Jervis hands Jim his card then starts to head out. Before he leaves, he turns around at the door.

"You've seen so much pain and tragedy, Mr. Gordon. I hope it hasn't left you too alone."

* * *

Jim opens to door to what is hopefully the current location of Alice Tetch.

"Hello?"

Gordon has his gun up and hears muffled coughing. He follows the noise and the source is the locked closet.

"Hello?," he asks again.

The person on the other side of the door coughed then unexpectedly started to laugh. Jim cautiously unlocks the door. The man bursts from the closet and pins Gordon down.

"No one lies to me! Don't lie!"

The next thing he knew, two gunshots were heard and the man pinning him down slumped to the side, dead. He sees a familiar face at the door.

"Any of his blood get on you?"

"No," is Gordon's answer as he stands up. "Hello, Alice."

"I wasn't sure how he turned."

"Turned? What's wrong with him?"

"He's infected," Alice says as she douses the body in gasoline while keeping her gun pointed at Gordon.

"Infected with what?"

"With me. Who are you? Why are you here?"

"Your brother's looking for you."

At this, she looks around as if searching for someone, lights the lighter in her hand, and backs away in a hurry. She drops the lighter as she escapes. Jim grabs a nearby blanket and attempts to put out the fire instead of chasing after her.

" _Alice, when I say the words 'I love you', you will dismiss the idea that I would hurt you, you will only feel deep love towards me, and you will trust me with all of your heart. Do you understand?"_

" _Yes."_

" _I will count down from three and you will awake with no memory of the past 5 minutes. Three…two…one."_

* * *

Jervis recently hypnotized one of The Sirens club owners and found out the hard way that she doesn't handle rejection well. Thankfully the other owner, Tabitha, handled the situation. A couple of the guests engaged him in conversation when he caught side of Jim Gordon entering. Jervis politely excuses himself as he made his way to Jim with high hopes.

"Did you find her?"

"I found her. Lost her. She shot a man and set fire to his body." At this, Jervis' expression went from innocently hopeful to the realization of what probably happened.

"Said she had an infection," Gordon continues. "Ran away at the mention of your name. You want to tell me what the hell is going on?"

Tetch immediately hid the look of utter confusion and decided to skip the full story.

"It's complicated."

"My next stop will be the GCPD. You can explain it to them."

"Please, don't do that. Let's talk somewhere private. Allow me to explain the situation."

Jervis guides Gordon away from the party to the roof. Once through the door, he looks around to make sure they are alone. Jim is quick to return to the questions.

"So what does Alice have in her blood that makes it so infectious?" He hears a watch open and ticking. "She doesn't look sick to me."

"She's not sick. She's powerful, sir."

"Powerful how? I need answers, Tetch!"

"You deserve some. Do you hear my watch ticking?"

There is a pause as Gordon listens for the watch. The hypnosis has just begun.

"Yeah."

"Listen closer… the ticking, it synchronizes with your heartbeat, yes? Look into my eyes. Not above them, or around them, into their center. Are you asleep, Jim?"

"Yes."

"Show me. Take out your gun and put it on the ground."

Gordon slowly takes out his gun and sets it on the ground.

"Good," Jervis continues. "Now walk to the edge and climb onto the wall. Been such a long, hard road for you, Jim Gordon. You are so very tired of life, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Now you can rest, Jim." Tetch smiles to himself as Gordon steps onto ledge. "Close your eyes. Sleep forever. Deep down, you want to die, Jim. You want to end this miserable, empty, loveless life, don't you?"

"Yes!"

"Yes. Let me help you. I'm going to count to ten. When I reach ten, you will simply step off the ledge and you will find everlasting peace…ready?"

"Yes."

"One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Fi-"

"Stop!"

Jervis turns around in disbelief. There she is. Alice!

"Alice? Thank God! At last, I've found you!"

"Tell that man to get off the ledge," she orders him as she points her gun at her brother.

"Never mind him. Put down the gun."

"Mister! Get down!"

Jervis is confused by her words; she should be familiar with his expertise. "He can't hear you." He takes a step toward his sister.

"Don't come near me."

"Why are you here if you don't want to talk? Put the gun down, Alice."

"You're evil. Leave me alone! Or I'll kill you!"

"But, Alice, I love you." Jervis Tetch uses the old trigger phrase to help control the situation.

His sister shoots and manages to injure him. Gordon sways on the ledge, presumably gaining back his self-control. Alice tries to shoot her brother again as he scurries to the exit.

She looks back to Gordon, and hurries to help him off the ledge. After some struggle, she succeeds in pulling him back up. They both pant in exhaustion.

Jim thanks her; Alice doesn't reply. She becomes aware of the cold metal of handcuffs attached to her wrist. She looks at Gordon in a panic."

* * *

Jervis Tetch ponders on what just happened. Why did Alice act like that? When they were children, her eyes would sparkle whenever he hypnotized someone. His hold on her seems to have vanished. Why else would she shoot a gun at him!? The trigger phase did absolutely nothing to her. He needs to rescue his sister and remind her of their love.


End file.
